Chicken Glass Noodle Soup Vietnamese (Mien Ga) Style

Chicken noodle soup is a perfect comfort food when feeling unwell or just recovering from an illness. But after living in India for more than two years, I am always craving for more flavour, not necessarily spicy-hot though, in the food that I eat. So this time around, it was a simple but very flavourful Vietnamese inspired chicken and glass noodle soup, kind of like mien ga. Though I don't claim any authenticity in this recipe of mine. I made it from scratch and with what was available in my kitchen. Instead of making your own spiced chicken stock, you can buy some and infuse it with, for example, fresh ginger, lemon grass, white pepper corns. And most importantly, do use your imagination when choosing the garnish!

You will need: Chicken stock: ~ 1/2 kg of misc. chicken parts (backs, wings, necks, etc.) ~2.5 cm ginger piece, sliced 1 tsp of pepper corns salt to taste ~2 l of water Soup: 1 cup sliced chicken, skinless, breast or thighs ~100 g of glass noodles, soaked in water for 10 mins ~1 l of the chicken stock handful of greens, I used radish leaves, coarsely chopped fish sauce to taste 2 tbsp lime juice Garnish: fresh corriander bean sprouts chillies, chopped (optional) lime wedges 1. To make the chicken stock, cover chicken parts with plenty of water, add sliced ginger, pepper corns and salt, bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 1-2 hours. Once ready, strain and let it cool. Finally, remove the fat from the top. It can be kept in the freezer for a couple of months. 2. In a pot, pour around 1 l of the chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Add the chicken pieces, fish sauce and lime juice and let it simmer for around 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. 3. Strain the glass noodles and cut them into desired length. Add the noodles and greens into the soup just for a few minutes. 4. When ready to serve, put chicken and noodles into a big soup bowl and pour the stock over them. Garnish with fresh greens and herbs and serve with lime wedges on the side.

Enjoy!

~If using regular chicken stock, simmer it with some fresh sliced ginger, crushed lemon grass stems, white pepper corns and strain before serving.
~ You can use sliced leftover/cooked chicken instead of raw chicken in the soup.

Pork Chop - Eggplant Stir-Fry with Ginger Fried Rice

My hubby made a delicious stir-fry for dinner as I was craving for a little bit of TLC last night. He used pork chops, but you can make it with any kind of cut of pork. And if you don't get Japanese eggplant, you can use some other kind of small eggplant. The sauce was quite sweet with a fresh touch of star anise and green shallots. We had it over simple ginger fried rice that is so easy to make yet adds so much flavour. It reminded me a lot of Korean bbq, which we used to go for on Friday nights while living in Minneapolis. Good old days... =)

For Pork Chop Stir-Fry you will need: 4 pork chops marinated in: a handful of chopped green shallots/spring onions 2 tbsp of soy sauce 2 tsp of fish sauce (can be replaced with salt) 1 star anise, broken into big pieces black pepper powder 4-5 Japanese eggplants, cut in half and then lengthwise 3 small red onions, quartered 3 shallots (white part), halved 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced ~3 cm piece of ginger, thinly sliced ~2 tbsp of Hoisin sauce some chopped spring onions for garnishing oil for frying 1. Marinate the pork chops in soy sauce, chopped spring onions, star anise, pepper powder and fish sauce for about 30 minutes. 2. Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the ingredients. 3. In a wok, heat some oil and stir fry the eggplants until slightly brown. Add garlic, onion, shallots, ginger and fry some more until onion is slightly browned. Onion should still be crisp. Keep aside. 4. Heat some oil, place the pork chops into a wok and fry till outside is seared. Then pour in the marinade and fry until the meat is cooked. 5. Add back the stir fried vegetables, hoisin sauce and fish sauce to taste. Mix it well. 5. Garnish with fresh spring onion.

For Ginger Fried Rice you will need: 2 cups of cooked rice ~3 cm of ginger, finely chopped 2 tsp of soy sauce fish sauce or salt to taste a handful or green shallots/spring onions, chopped oil of frying In a wok or pan, heat some oil and fry ginger for a minute. Then add the cooked rice and stir it well and fry it for a couple of minutes. Stir in soy sauce and fish sauce to taste. Finally, add fresh spring onions. Stir it well and fry till the rice is nicely browned. Enjoy!

Quick Eggplant and Bok Choy Stir-Fry

Last night my hubby made this very light yet satisfying stir-fry for a late dinner. After a long day in the office, we didn't want to go to sleep with heavy stomachs :o) It was great -- soft and crunchy, slightly sweet and tangy. You can add prawns or chicken to this stir fry if you would like - it would be delicious! Also, feel free to use whatever vegetables are lying in your fridge. Just put vegetables in the order based on the time it takes them to cook and soften. Here we go:

You will need: 4-5 baby eggplants, halved a buch of baby bok choy, leaves taken apart and washed 1 big onion, cut into big pieces 4 garlic cloves, chopped 2-3 cm ginger piece, chopped 1 green chilli, sliced in half lengthwise 3 tbsp of hoisin sauce 1 tbsp of rice vinegar 2 tbsp of sesame oil fish sauce to taste (instead of salt) 1. Heat oil in a wok and fry the eggplant for a couple of minutes until it browns lightly. 2. Next, add onion, garlic, ginger and green chilli, mix it all and fry for a couple minutes until the onion starts becoming translucent. 3. Add the bok choy, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar and fish sauce. Stir it well and cook on a reduced heat just until the bok choy becomes softer. That's it! Serve over steamed rice. Enjoy!